Borderlands 2 prequel rumoured to be coming to PC, Xbox 360, PS3

Gaming news site GamePointsNow has let the cat out of the bag concerning a new Borderlands game set in the time period between Borderlands 1 and 2. Previously Gearbox's Randy Pitchford denied a Borderlands 3 was in the works and the essence of his denial was right as this is really a Borderlands 1.5. The leak, if it proves to be correct, will apparently spoil a reveal scheduled for PAX East this coming weekend. The Borderlands sequel-prequel is said to be being developed by 2K Australia who also helped with the BioShock and XCOM games that 2K published.

Some aspects of the game, beyond its existence, have also been detailed. The upcoming game is set some time in the five year gap between Borderlands 1 and 2. The location for the game is the moon of Elpis and Hyperion's H-shaped space station which orbits it rather closely. You can sometimes see both these astral bodies in the sky of Borderlands 2.

The game features Handsome Jack (from BL2) back "in the days when he was just a humble programmer called John," says GamePointsNow. John is searching for a powerful Alien artefact and you will probably pitted against him as one of four playable characters; Athena the Gladiator, Wilhelm the Enforcer, Nisha the Lawbringer and Fragtrap, a militarised claptrap. Some of these characters have featured in previous Borderlands games and DLCs.

Looking at gameplay, there will be low gravity environments to enjoy and as some of the action will be in areas without an atmosphere you will also have to manage and loot Oxygen as a resource. New kinds of weapons will join the procedural cornucopia on offer, including laser weapons and 'cryo' weapons that freeze and shatter enemies.

As mentioned in the intro, this game should be officially announced at PAX East within days. It's guestimated that it will be a 2014 release due to its old-gen console support. 2K haven't commented upon the leaks.

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What a disappointing announcement. Prequels/bridge titles are typically done to save the developers coming up with worthy leaps forward for the franchise - scenarios, levels, weapons, story/character elements don't need to be fresh, in fact are welcomed not to be, as a “nod” to the game it's leading to…most prequels come a few games into a series, usually after the biggest hit when they can't come up with stuff good enough for a whole new title

BL1 was a good game but the story was a bit meh. With BL2 they nailed it and Handome Jack is probably in my top 10 anatagonists of all time! Guess they realised this themselves, and much like WB worrying how to follow Arkham City after killing their main and best antagonist, decided to follow up with a prequel to avoid it for the time being. Lazy writing, but I'm happy we're getting more Handsome Jack!

Might have finished with the mountain of BL2 DLC by the time this is released.